JessPDX

The Attic Atheneum and Mochi

2010-11-07T01:18:00.000-07:00

Well, I don't seem to blog much anymore, but I will share two things: one is that I got a new kitten and he just ran up my back as I wrote that. Ten weeks old, got him from the Oregon Humane Society. His name is Mochi. My older cat, Emma Lou, is not too happy so far. She prefers to be the solitary queen. But I have faith that they will be friends eventually.

Perhaps more importantly (or not, kittens are very important), I was offered a slot in a great writing program, the Attic Atheneum. This means I get to work on my writing and study creative non-fiction with Karen Karbo and Cheryl Strayed for a year. Pretty wonderful opportunity. I took a class at the Attic with Karen last winter and I have been a fan of Cheryl's writing for years now (I especially recommend this gorgeous essay on loss). So this is exciting. Perhaps I should get back to working on my writing now, instead of silly blog posts... If you don't see me posting here, you'll know that's what I'm doing (either that or playing with kitties...).

Some links I like lately...

2010-09-16T23:58:00.001-07:00

So I never post here anymore, but I thought instead I would share some of my other favorite blogs and web sites lately.

Carly's Baby and Fulbright in Brazil: My friend Carly, who I met in high school, recently moved to Brazil to research graffiti, married a Brazilian, and had a baby girl. That's the short version. I have really enjoyed reading about her adventures and reconnecting with her lately.

A blog post about Rootworks, women's land that was established in the 70s, where a few of my friends now live in Southern Oregon.

Mind Deep: A Mindfulness Practice Blog: After I did a five day Vipassana/Insight Meditation retreat recently at Cloud Mountain Retreat Center I went looking for stuff about insight meditation online (I have been doing these retreats for ten years, but always a new perspective...). This one is really good, I really appreciate her perspective, and the great quotes she digs up.

Dharmaseed.org: An amazing resource. A huge collection of Dharma talks by a wide variety of Buddhist teachers, free to download (donations welcome). Rebecca Bradshaw taught the retreat I did last month, so I downloaded quite a few of hers from there.

BuddhistGeeks: Really cool web site and podcast where they interview all kinds of Buddhist teachers, musicians, and just people with interesting perspectives on Buddhist topics.

Vida: Women in Literary Arts: A really great site with articles by various interesting women writers about women's relationships to writing and the writing community/industry.

Women and Happiness

2010-01-23T11:11:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to let you all know that one of my former writing teachers, Ariel Gore, has a new blog these days, Women and Happiness. She is also about to have a new book, of almost the same name, Women and the New Psychology of Happiness, which I plan to get as soon as it's out.

Happie's 90th!

2010-01-21T09:52:00.001-08:00

My grandmother, Happie, turned 90 last month. Last weekend we had a big party to celebrate. It was so sweet to have some many of her friends come down to Portland from Seattle (maybe 15-20 of them?), so much family there from Seattle and the east coast, and my lovely friends. Here are a few highlights.

My beautiful garden!

2009-07-05T13:56:00.000-07:00

I think being on Facebook is what's making me neglect my blog. But I am happy to share some pictures of my garden, the first real garden I have ever had, thanks to the encouragement and support of the Urban Farm Collective. So far, having fresh zucchini and beets is pretty amazing.

Red spinich

Chard

Baby beets

Zucchini

Overhead view.

Myshkin shows...

2009-03-19T23:40:00.000-07:00

Been way too long since I checked in here, oops. Life gets pretty crazy. Musicians, concerts, kids, grandmothers, potlucks, new housemates....

Just wanted to let you know that the brilliant Myshkin is doing a short Northwest tour this weekend, all three nights of which I will be along for and two of which are with Seattle's Led to Sea (aka Alex Guy). Please do come out and see us (I won't be performing, but you can still see me), I promise you will not be disappointed. I'll include some quotes and stuff about Myshkin below.

fri. march 20 (tonight!!) House Concert - Seattle, WA - 209 NW 60th St - Myshkin with Led to Sea - 8pm - $15 - RSVP to: eliwest@gmail.com ***this is a great house concert series at the home of my friend Eli***

sat. march 21 The Raven and Finch - Ilwaco, WA (this is a sweet wine bar near Astoria, OR) - 215 Howerton Way - 8pm - $5

sun. march 22 Alberta Street Pub - Portland, OR - Myshkin's Ruby Warblers with Led to Sea - 8pm - $10 advance / $12 at door - for tickets go to www.shiningcitymusic.com

Myshkin took a year off from music in 2008 to build a cob and straw bale studio in the mountains of southern Oregon, and is currently working to finish her latest and most ambitious record, heart thumping to get back on the road. Myshkin plays an eighty-year old Martin tenor guitar, a vintage Gibson six-string, and a jumbo Lowden acoustic. But her voice is her finest instrument, and she wields it like a fortune-teller, an acrobat, a hunter, a gift.

"Both lyrical and politically pointed. A rich blend topped with her broad-ranging, keening voice." - The Washington Post

"Myshkin's voice is not to be taken lightly. A gorgeous rich alto infused with natural drama and melancholy, and best applied to her own songs: hushed one-act plays that speak volumes." - The New Orleans Times Picayune

"Dark, smoky folk-jazz. Gripping, affecting and disquieting." - Read Magazine

Heather on PHC, again.

2009-01-26T19:28:00.001-08:00

Well this time it's too late to catch it on the radio, but Heather (new web site) was on Prairie Home Companion again, this time live from Duluth. I think Garrison likes her... So, you can listen to it online here, the whole show as well as a clip of her own song, "Mittens." Myself, I recommend listening to the medley she did (Battle Hymn of the Republic/I Shall Be Released/Wade in the Water). Go to about 77:30, then listen for about 6 mins:

Heather on Prairie Home Companion today!

2008-12-27T15:10:00.000-08:00

Very last minute news:

Just wanted to let you know that Heather Masse of the Wailin' Jennys will be on Prairie Home Companion tonight singing some tunes with Garrison and the amazing singer Jearlyn Steele as well as Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks big band. The show broadcasts at 5:45pm eastern standard time Saturday (3pm in a lot of places on the west coast) and then a rebroadcast on Sunday. Check http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/ for more info. Hope you can tune in!

And yes, Heather is a current Shining City artist... I am booking a tour for her and Aoife O'Donovan of Crooked Still in the Northwest in late April. You can contact me or go to the Shining City web site for more info on that. Also, I highly recommend Heather's new 5-song EP with the great Jed Wilson, Many Moons.

The Flutter Effect

2008-12-15T23:04:00.000-08:00

I have just discovered that one of my favorite singer-songwriters and friends, Beth Amsel, has a new blog, mostly political. From checking out what she's posted so far, and from knowing her for years, I can tell you has a lot to say about politics and it would behoove you to read it. Go there and leave her a comment welcoming her to blogland.

Heather Masse in the NW!

2008-12-08T11:54:00.000-08:00

So next up is a short Northwest tour for the Heather Anne Band, that would feature Ms. Heather Masse of The Wailin' Jennys. You get a gold star if you see the irony re the last post here. :) Heather is amazing, and since I'm in a hurry to go meet her for coffee, I will cheat and use other people's word to describe her.

Please come see her (and me, but not on the stage) in Tacoma, Bainbridge Island, Bellingham, or, Portland on Sunday night! Details of shows are here.

UPDATE: Tacoma on Thursday has been canceled and there will instead be a house concert in Seattle at the home of Eli West. You can contact me for info. Leave your email address in a comment if you want to come, and I'll tell you where it is.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A melange of soulful, thoughtful songs, Heather's newest project, The Heather Anne Band, crosses the borders between country, jazz, blues, and folk. With Heather Masse's expressive voice, and Jed Wilson's extraordinary piano playing at its core, the band creates an expansive, timeless sound that engages and inspires. The Heather Anne Band plans to record a full-length album of Heather's original songs and music this winter.

"What a voice! Every once in a while I happen on a voice so pure, with such great texture, intonation, time and phrasing that it stops me in my tracks. Heather Masse has all that and more." - John Ziegler, KUMD

"Heather Masse has a stunningly beautiful voice and impeccable musicianship. You don't want to miss a chance to hear this singer." - Jazz musician Dominique Eade

"The icing on the cake [of Joy Kills Sorrow] though, is vocalist Heather Masse, whose voice hovers somewhere between Alison Krauss and Maura O'Connell, with the versatility to take on material as widely diverse as Johnny Cash's "I Still Miss Someone", Hank William's "Weary Blues from Waitin'," Paul Seibels's "Louise" and old time standards like "Train on the Island," yet give them each her own intriguing twist." - Sing Out Magazine

"Masse may be the perfect catch for The Wailin' Jennys, which is rounded out by Ruth Moody and Nicky Mehta... Of course, there's also her voice: Masse's surprisingly deep vocal sent a ripple of reaction through the audience. It's a throaty voice, fit for sultry jazz, and it was best showcased on a spooky a cappella rendition of Lead Belly's Bring Me Little Water Sylvie." - Uptown Magazine, Winnipeg

Annabelle in Cali this week

2008-11-18T10:12:00.000-08:00

Hiya. I'm traveling up and down (or down and up) California this week in an effort to hone my road manager skills, which I usually just practice on Tracy...

I'm road managing Annabelle Chvostek, a former member of the Canadian folk trio The Wailin Jennys. She's a pretty phenomenal multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter, and her new album, Resilience, is great. You can listen on Myspace.

18th Coffee Gallery Backstage, Los Angeles, CA www.coffeegallery.com
19th Tales from the Tavern, Santa Ynez, CA www.talesfromthetavern.com
20th Don Quixote's Music Hall, Felton (Santa Cruz), CA www.donquixotesmusic.info
21st Fernwood Resort, Big Sur, CA http://www.fernwoodbigsur.com/
22nd Café Flo, Chico, CA 530-342-1055 pullinsusa@aol.com
23rd Freight & Salvage, Berkeley, CA www.freightandsalvage.org

Rally against Prop 8 on Saturday morning

2008-11-12T22:51:00.000-08:00

There's going to be a rally to protest the passage of Prop 8 and similar measures. If you are in Portland, please come. Here's the scoop:

A team of PDX-area LGBT folks and allies just announced Portland’s first large-scale rally to protest the passage of California’s Proposition 8 - and it’s all going down this Saturday, November 15th, from 10:30 am onward at the Portland State University South Park Blocks, near the Saturday Farmer’s Market (corner of SW Broadway and Mill Streets, bordering the Smith Memorial Student Union).

More information is here and here. That last link is national, not just for Portland. There are rallies on Saturday in every state.

What happened with Prop 8?

2008-11-09T23:05:00.000-08:00

So I am still thrilled about Obama, still often on the verge on tears when I listen to the news. But the Proposition 8 thing has really been bothering me. It just boils down to the fact that everyone I know is thrilled out of their mind to have elected our first black president, but not many people seem very upset that all over the country people voted to take away civil rights from another group. Maybe, as one friend said, this is a blessing in the same way that GW Bush was a blessing to Obama. As in, things have to be really f*cked up before can we understand how badly we need to change. Maybe.

But I am hurt. A lot of people are hurt. And even though I actually feel like I can say I love Barack Obama, I am angry at him now. Because he says he supports full gay rights, but he is still against gay marriage. Our beautiful new black president-elect would like to deny some of us our full civil rights. Or maybe he's not really, some people say he downplayed his support for gay marriage to get elected. And since a lot of the people who voted for him also voted against gay marriage, maybe that worked. But what he said is that he is against gay marriage but also against banning it. How do we expect people to make sense of that? Does mentioning us in his acceptance speech get him a free pass? Gay people are so used to accepting crumbs, it's ridiculous...

When I was in high school, in the early 90s, I was very active in the gay youth movement in Boston. I helped run my high school Gay/Straight Alliance, I was appointed by Gov. Bill Weld to his Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth (which was later abolished by Mitt Romney, but still exists as a non governmental-entity). I brought a girl to my prom, I was a member of the Boston Alliance for Gay and Lesbian Youth. Later, in Missoula, I got involved in fighting back when the home of my friends Carla and Adrianne was set on fire (with their 2-yr-old son inside) after they filed a lawsuit demanding benefits from the University of Montana. These days, since I moved to Portland, I am less political (aside for volunteering once in a long while). Not many of the people in my life now know much about that activist side of me. But right now, I am feeling the righteousness of my youth, and feeling called to get back to that work in some way.

I have been reading some blogs about this, and would like to share them with you. I'd love to know your thoughts on all this.

http://nailingjello.wordpress.com/2008/11/05/why-were-not-all-dancing-in-the-streets-today/

http://mpetrelis.blogspot.com/2008/11/sf-mayor-denounces-yes-on-8obama-mailer.html

http://wearefambly.wordpress.com/2008/11/05/delection/

http://www.racialicious.com/2008/11/07/on-proposition-8/

President Obama

2008-11-05T16:23:00.000-08:00

*image courtesy of obeygiant.com

I'm still kind of stunned when I think about it. An amazing day, amazing time. As part of a minority in this country, I feel so filled with pride and hope that things will truly change. Even with the disturbing outcome of Prop 8 in CA... I hope Obama can really change things. Today I believe he can. We can. One thing I heard today on NPR was that he is not the change, he is just the one who showed up at the right time to personify it, embody it.

I'm not at all used to the idea of a president I actually like. I do remember the night Bill Clinton was elected, and that was exciting, but this is a whole 'nother thing now. I don't think Clinton ever made me cry (well, not for a *good* reason).

Last night I went to the Oregon Convention Center for the big Democratic Party bash. I went with Holly and Amelia, Jennifer and Melina. It was a pretty cool thing to be a part of that.

Bridges for Obama

2008-10-31T21:31:00.000-07:00

This made me cry, just a little.

Bridges for Obama: American supporters of Sen. Barack Obama have been staging rallies abroad at world-famous bridges to show support for the Democratic presidential candidate and his pledge to span old political divisions. My cousin Jonah and his wife Jessica, who live in Cairo, are in it (at 3:07, top of the frame).

Click To Play

Crazy times

2008-10-20T21:02:00.000-07:00

Its been slow around the blog. Busy time. Road trip with Tracy and Holly, the next weekend a visit to Abbie and Tom in Philomath (we also went to Newport), then last Thursday a big concert (see post about it here), and this weekend a visit from my grandmother. I'm too lazy to re-post the pictures of everything, but if you follow those links...

Next weekend Edie Carey will be in town, and the weekend after is a meditation retreat with Arinna Weisman. Then Wordstock, them my next concerts. Lots of fun with kids and concert booking in between.

Please do two things (in this order) in you live in Oregon:

1. VOTE!

2. Come to one or both of my November shows, which you can see here.

Rainbow road trip

2008-10-06T11:45:00.000-07:00

Just returned from one of the greatest road trips ever. Nevermind that it was only three days. I was pretty sick when we left on Friday, and well when we returned last night, so it must have been good for me.

Tracy and Holly and I went to Ashland and Pistol River, where Tracy had some gigs. We got some bad coconut mate and great live music at the hippie coffee shop in Ashland, I got to experience nausea on the ridiculous and harrowing route that Tracy's GPS took us over the mountains from Grants Pass to the coast (people have died up there in worse weather...), we walked on the beach outside out hotel in Gold Beach, we ate delicious food prepared for us by the concert promoters in Pistol River, I got to sell lots of Tracy's CD to eager fans, new and old. We watched Tina Fey and Queen Latifah make fun of Sarah Palin on SNL and then proceeeded to use the word "mavericky" as many times as possible in the next 24 hours. But most of all, I came back with a [super soft] rainbow T-shirt and a deep love and appreciation for my friends.

Also see pictures here.

Sisters Folk Festival.

2008-09-10T00:27:00.001-07:00

I seem to be slowing down here, busy time, etc etc. So, what I will share today is that I had a great time at the Sisters Folk Festival this weekend with The Wailin' Jennys. You can find some great music links, read more about it here and comment here or there.

PS Thanks to Carrie for the stellar accommodations. Big love.

Goodbye Mooses (or, tons of pictures)

2008-08-22T11:02:00.000-07:00

Jonah, Jessica, Makaylah and Zoe Moos left this morning. Or they meant to. They left the house at 3:45am, and then their flight was delayed (after they boarded) so they have now spent 8 hours in the Portland airport. I'm sorry I missed out on one last morning with them, but I got some sleep. I already miss them though. Makaylah has made me promise that I will come to visit her at her house in Cairo (don't think she remembers the first time I went there), so I'll have to do that...

Anyway, here are a bunch of pictures from their visit (not in order), of them and me and various other friends and family who you should recognize...

Pete, Lily, Happie and me.

Jessica, Makaylah, Melina, Jonah, Zoe, me and Jack.

Zoe and me.

Me and Zoe at The Bite of Oregon.

Tracy playing at The Bite.

Makaylah loooves Jim Henry.

Makaylah loooves to play with her food.

Makaylah and Jessica on the front lawn.

Holly and Josie at The Bite.

Makaylah in the hammock in the community garden down the block.

Josie and me, reading a story.

Amelia and Zoe.

Melina and Makaylah at Wilshire Park.

Happie and Zoe.

Abbie and Lily on the deck.

Love this face.

Mk and Melina at storytime at A Children's Place on Fremont.

Mk and Melina. These two hit it off swimmingly. Such a bummer they can't hang out all the time. But we always have Skype....

Zoe, Makaylah and Willa and Old Town Pizza last night.

Zoe and Willa.

Goodnight Bush

2008-08-15T23:17:00.000-07:00

Something I have noticed the last few times I have taken kids to storytime at the kids bookstore on NE Fremont is this great parody of Goodnight Moon: Goodnight Bush. You really should check it out. Its funny stuff, great for gift-giving.

Cousins in town

2008-08-11T13:12:00.001-07:00

I've been pretty busy with all the cousins (from Egypt and from DC and from Seattle) in my house, but it's so great to have them here. And so great to have the space now to have them here.

Here are some pictures.

Miss Zoe Moos on the deck.

Makaylah and me. She was trying on Sophia's wings.

Pete and Lily (from Seattle) and Katie (from DC).

Saturday morning brunch, from left: Abbie, Jessica, Zoe, Jonah, Jamie, Pete, Lily, Makaylah and Katie.

Jessica, Zoe, Makaylah (lining up her blueberries in her waffle), and Jonah.

Makaylah and River.

Prema and River.

Pickathon!

2008-08-01T19:00:00.000-07:00

So this weekend is the 10th annual Pickathon Roots Music Festival and I'll be there for most of it. Looks to be a very fun festival this year, tons of great music including the awesome band Crooked Still, who I have promoted several times. Plus plenty of fun stuff for kids (especially those who like pirates...).

There's a post by Dave Allen about it, also featuring a video interview with Pickathon founder Zale Schoenborn and some other cool footage from the site.

See you there!

Neighborhood Obama update

2008-07-26T17:09:00.001-07:00

So the Obama campaign office three blocks from my house re-opened. Nice to have that there. :) I have some young friends who were pretty excited about it when it was there before the primary.

Also just signed up for free Obama buttons from MoveOn.org. OK, I actually gave a little extra money to get more buttons to give out. You can get yours, too, and give a few extra bucks if you feel inclined. While you're at it, go to the main MoveOn.org page and sign a the petitions there. It's an easy way to support their important work.

My grandmother, Happie, is now volunteering for Obama in Seattle 2-3 times a week, mostly making phone calls. She's still a little slow from falling on her hip a few months ago, but you can never accuse her of not doing her part.

July adventures

2008-07-24T23:25:00.000-07:00

I'm finally emerging from my allergy-induced haze, and also a two-week visit from my dad, who lives in Germany, followed by a few days with my friends Kate and Jen, from DC. Here are some pictures, first from the day I took my dad to the coast (Ecola Park, Cannon Beach).

We went to the Oregon Country Fair with Holly, Scott, Amelia, Josie, Prema, Steve and River. Much fun was had. Wish I'd had some wings...

My dad and I went to Seattle to visit Happie, also had brunch with my cousin Ben.

My friends Kate and Jen came to visit. With any luck they'll move here in a few years... :) If they don't, it's not because they didn't have the best tour guide ever.

Pseudoephedrine rocks

2008-07-09T23:51:00.000-07:00

So apparently pollen levels in Portland were the highest in the country today. And I believe it, because I was feeling it. I got some Claritin, I got some homeopathic stuff, got out my neti pot, I have allergy eye drops (which do help a bit), but I still felt like a wreck. I couldn't breathe last night so I had to take some Nyquil (which I don't enjoy the side effects of). This morning I couldn't breathe at all through my nose, my eyes were a red watery mess, and I felt like my head was going to explode out my ears. It wasn't pretty.

So, I did a little Googling of allergy symptoms and drugs. It seems that I somehow missed the fact that on July 30th, 2005 the Oregon Senate approved a bill requiring prescriptions for all medicines containing pseudoephedrine aka Sudafed. Because pseudoephedrine is a key ingredient used to make meth, and Oregon has had a big meth problem. But a bit of research showed me that pseudoephedrine is really the strongest most effective decongestant out there. There are others, so you can look at the shelves full of allergy and cough/flu drugs and feel like you have tons of options, but they're not as good. So now we are the only state where you can't get the most effective decongestant over the counter. Sudafed PE (while easier to find a picture of it at this point) is not the same thing.

There was some debate about this in the press at the time. Because lower income people and/or those without health insurance are unlikely to have access to prescriptions, and even if they do, the prescription cost will be much higher. So populations with less access will just have to suffer, or hope something else works for them. I did enjoy this blog post and this one about the issue.

A bunch of other states, including Washington, have restricted sales of pseudoephedrine to behind the counter. Meaning it's only sold in pharmacies and you have to have ID, sign your name, and not get more than two at a time. But you still don't need a prescription.

Lucky for me, Washington is a short drive across the river from my house. So today, my dad (who is visiting from Germany) and I got in the car and drove to the Target in Hazel Dell, WA. He was all excited because they just don't have stores like that in Germany. So much stuff to choose from!

Me, I am excited because I feel close(r) to fine now, I feel a thousand times better. Totally clear nasal passage and my eyes are less of a mess too. I really want to say nice things about homeopathy and herbal remedies, but pseudoephedrine rocks.

Update: Two days later... I think this stuff is keeping me awake at night. It works amazingly, but that's a bit of an issue. Anyone know anything about that?

Vintage 60s RCA stereo console....

2008-07-06T16:08:00.000-07:00

Vintage RCA Stereo Console

Earlier this year, one of my mom's old friends sent me a stack of her old records in the mail. I was excited, except that I didn't have a way to play them and the only person I knew who owned a record player was my friend Willa, who is five and has a plastic Snoopy one that her super cool parents got her. She did end up loving some of the records of my childhood, like the Annie soundtrack and Free to Be You and Me. So I left all my records with her and kept my eyes out for a cheap record player for myself.

And then, then other day, I found this at the awesome thrift store near my house (Rerun - NE 7th and Fremont). Only $20. The record player and radio both work great, the speakers sound really good. I asked why it was so cheap and they said they don't like to sell these, they take up too much room, they just wanted it gone. So Willa and her mom, Kate, came with their truck and helped me pick it up yesterday. It fits perfectly in my dining room. I am so excited to have it.

It's an RCA solid state, The Moncaya, Model VQT62. Can't find any of that online anywhere, so if you know how to figure out what year it is (or the value), let me know. I'm guessing early 60s-ish, based on the similar stuff I did find. (Click the link above for more pictures.)

A weird quilt of artsy gardening things

2008-07-03T22:38:00.001-07:00

My friend Holly, who writes for the Oregonian, wrote an article about my super cool neighbors and the things they are doing on the lot on the other side of their house. The article is even better with the picture of them throwing their daughter in the air, but it's still totally worth reading online.

For now, vacant lot is neighbors' domain

Thursday, July 03, 2008

Holly Carpenter

Special to The Oregonian

Goings-on at a vacant lot in Northeast may be best described by Maryetta Jacques-Bietz: "It's just kind of a weird quilt of artsy gardening things over there."

The owners, Jacques-Bietz and her husband, Matt Bietz, who live next door with their 23-month-old daughter, Sophia, have opened the lot to the community. Portland State University students used the lot -- on Northeast 15th, just south of Alberta Street -- for gatherings this spring. Neighbors have gardened on it for a few years and are now invited to sow 14 new plots.

More tea shops and space for rent

2008-07-01T18:15:00.000-07:00

Its soon to post about another tea shop, but the other day Prema called and said she was having the best bubble tea ever. So later I met her at this tea shop in NW Portland, which I had actually been to before but just to eat (the food is really good). They have very good bubble tea at Townshend's, and it turns out that Coconut Mate is very good iced, but the blended bubble tea at the Tea Zone was even more delicious. The one both Prem and I got was called something like the Rose Garden (?) and was green tea with rosewater iced and blended with tapioca pearls. If you haven't have bubble tea is might sound weird, but it was great. Try it. They also have wifi, of course, and live music most nights. They need to work on their web site though.

In other news, I am trying to rent some space in my house to massage therapists/healers/artists/etc. Please see my Craigslist post and pass it on to anyone you know who might be interested. It's already taken on Mondays by a very sweet French man named Didier Noblia who does Reiki, numerology, past-life regression therapy, sound healing, Qi Gong, and other intuitive healing work. Thanks for connecting us, Carrie.

Speaking of Craigslist, I got a really great chair this morning. My furniture budget is very low, but I have a lot of house now, so I needed something else comfy to sit on. And since it was close by, the guy was willing to tie it to the top of his car and drive it over here. God bless Craigslist. Where would I be without it?

Now I am back home with all my windows closed suffering from the worst allergies of the season so far. Runny nose, watery eyes, sneezing all over the place. I'm a mess. I need to go watch a movie in a dark room.

New albums of note: Annabelle Chvostek and Eliza Gilkyson

2008-06-26T23:54:00.000-07:00

Since it's such a rare occurrence, I thought I'd let you know once again that I posted on my music blog about some great new albums that you must own.

If there are any others recent releases you feel I should know about, let me know here (or there).

In other news, I made it back home to Portland safely after a lovely few days in Vermont. I have so far (aside from being picked up at the airport by Holly and Scott) not spent time with anyone over three. But I can't say it's been bad. I needed a few trips to the playground.

Tea shops and Cambridge people

2008-06-20T20:11:00.000-07:00

A picture I took last week of Harvard Square at dusk. I kinda like it.

I like to post periodically about tea houses, and the two best in Cambridge (to my knowledge) are Tealuxe, right in the middle of Harvard Square, and Dado Tea, about a block and a half from where I am staying. They are both great (but the bubble tea at Dado is less good). Unfortunately though, neither one has roasted coconut mate like my tea shop in Portland. Only five more days...

Tomorrow is my friend Emily's wedding (this is the wedding tour). I've known her since I was six. Tonight I got to see her family at the rehearsal dinner. Hadn't seen her brothers, her parents, or her lesbian aunts in years. Her father immediately remarked on what an amazing meal we had had in Paris in 1994 and her mother about what a remarkable grown-up I was (I told her I wasn't sure). Tomorrow there will be lots of high school people I haven't seen in 15 years. And I don't think I brought the right shoes.

Here's Emily and I tonight (I wish I had one from 25 years ago to go with it, I'll have to find one and scan it later). A few more pictures are here.

Cambridge and a wedding

2008-06-13T11:01:00.001-07:00

Being back in my hometown of Cambridge, Massachusetts always makes me kind of silly and sentimental. Its been fun so far. My uncle's John Moos's wedding (in Lowell) was fun. Here are some pictures, and there are more on Facebook if you go here.

Jonah, Katie, and me.

Me, Katie's friend Katie, and Katie. :)

Katie Moos.

Lisa (the bride), me, John, and Katie.

Lisa's daughter, MaryKate, Lisa's father, the officiant (not sure exactly who she was), Lisa and John.

Me and Jonah, a few glasses of Champagne in...

So other than that, I had dinner last night with someone I dated in high school, have seen a few friends of my mom's, and am enjoying hanging out in my old neighborhood. I could never live here again though. The traffic and the lack of parking are insane (so is the humidity). OK, I miss Portland. But it's great to see everyone.

Onwards to summer

2008-06-07T13:23:00.000-07:00

It doesn't feel like summer at all here. Its a Saturday afternoon in June and its 57 degrees. Good thing I'm about to go to the east coast where it'll be really hot and humid. Its supposed to be 90 with up 77% humidity in Shutesbury, MA, where I will be tomorrow. Great.

I'm leaving on a red eye tonight, for a trip that will include two weddings, a lot of cousins, two or three states (MA, VT, hopefully NY) and a lot of high school friends. Yesterday was the last day of the school year schedule with my girlies. It was a little sad, since I tend to be sentimental about everything, but I'll see them over the summer anyway and will have two new little girls starting in July.

Above is a picture of me and Happie in front of my house last month. Photo by Willa (age 5). And here's one that I love of Willa running across the Hawthorne Bridge last week, airborne.

I have been working on some late summer/fall concerts. So far I have Lissa Schneckenburger confirmed for August 24th and Laura Love (with band) confirmed for September 25th. Both at the Alberta Street Pub. So mark your calenders and stay tuned for news about Eliza Gilkyson, Annabelle Chvostek and some other great artists.

Stay tuned for travel updates, too. :)

Obama's more perfect union

2008-06-01T00:20:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to watching Obama's March 18th speech "A More Perfect Union" (the "race speech") in it's entirely. If you haven't already done so, I hope you will watch it, too. It is worth spending 37 minutes of your life. I was already a fan, but this really moved me perhaps more than any political speech I can remember. He really is in a unique position, and has a unique ability, to reach such a broad spectrum of the population. His policy ideas are very important, and I agree with a lot of them, but as a friend said to me last night (and I'm paraphrasing a little), what this country really needs more than anything is his demeanor, his approach, his openness. It feels kind of cheesy and almost inconceivable as a seasoned liberal to actually like a candidate for president, but after seeing him in person last week and then watching this speech, I think I can truly say I do. I think that maybe, possibly, he is a real leader and not just a politician. Surely (like our union) he's not perfect, but this is real life, and considering the context of this election, I like his approach a lot.

If you prefer, you can also read the speech here (but I really recommend watching it).

Chocolate

2008-05-26T00:53:00.000-07:00

I just want to state for the record that Vosges Haut Chocolat Barcelona Bar may be the best chocolate bar I have ever had. I first had one last summer when my friend Terry got me some ridiculously good treats. They're kind of spendy, so I've only had a few since, but they really are damn good.

That's all I needed to share today.

RIP Utah Phillips

2008-05-24T19:46:00.000-07:00

Folk hero U. Utah Phillips has died of heart failure. My post(s) about it are located on my music blog, so please go there to read.

Horses in Portland

2008-05-22T00:42:00.001-07:00

Since my cousin Katie is blogging all the time now, maybe I'll see how long I can keep up with the frequent posts.

So tonight I am excited about the Portland Horse Project. Portland is full of old metal rings embedded in the sidewalks of older neighborhoods. These rings were used to tie horses to back in the day. Three years ago, a guy named Scott decided they should go to some use. I didn't know any of this until just now. I just saw horses tethered to rings around town and it always made me happy. When I realized that the house I bought this winter had a horse ring right in front of it, I was thrilled. I knew then that I could live here. But I also knew I needed to get a horse, and I didn't know where to find the right one or how to tether it. Now I have complete instructions.

Plastic horses as public art. This is why I love Portland.

If you don't live in Portland or are not familiar with all this, you have to read up on this and/or check out more of the pictures. And look out for my horse, coming soon. I have just the person in mind to help me...

*Pictures taken by/borrowed from Scott Wayne Indiana. Thank you.

New blog report

2008-05-19T10:17:00.000-07:00

Just a short post to let you know that there are two great new blogs you should check out. Totally unrelated, but both written by very cool people who are doing great work in the world.

Four Little Feet is the blog of my friend Jennie and her boyfriend Ethan, who are about to embark on a summer internship with Save the Children in Guatamala. There are sure to be fun and interesting adventures in store there.

Wonkasaurus is the blog of my cousin Katie (not sure if I can ever call her Katherine, but you should), who is in DC working on food/nutrition issues for the Migrant Legal Action Program. I am going to leave it to you to find out the rest of the details, but there's some thought-provoking stuff there and she's a great writer. If you want to see Katie, go here.

PS One more new (to me) blog to check out is Octopus Jenny, the cool mama of a new charge of mine, who I look forward to getting to know more next month. They went to Obama, too...

Support their blogs and visit often!

Obama in Portland

2008-05-18T17:46:00.000-07:00

This afternoon, Happie (my grandmother) and I went to see Obama speak at the waterfront. She's been a fan of Obama for longer than I have, and was very excited to see him in person. At first we weren't sure we'd get in because the lines was blocks and blocks long, but we did. People were very gracious and helpful to Happie, helping her up and down from the grass, bringing her cold water. Not so bad to be 88, maybe. :)

They say there were 75,000 people there, a record for any rally in any city during this campaign (more than twice his next largest crowd). It was pretty awesome. Makes me damn proud to be a Portlander. See below for some video clips, one of a political nature, one not so much (posted with permission though).

PS And then there's a much clearer better video of Obama speaking, no shaking like mine. I like having my own though. But I just watched this one and it almost made me cry. I can't say why, but he just feels a lot less like a politician than everyone else. Maybe it's naive to be smitten by it, but I'll take it. Bless the Clintons for trying for so long, but they're done. Gotta love the ending music on this video, signed, sealed, delivered...

My new fence!

2008-05-11T19:56:00.000-07:00

So my new fence is almost done and it's so beautiful. Shoshana did some cool things with bamboo in the front part and in the gate. If you ever need a fence (or a shed or anything else) built, let me know and I'll put you in touch with her.

Here's Sailor and Josie checking out a piece of cedar.

Fun with my new MacBook...

2008-05-05T19:47:00.001-07:00

So I got a new MacBook and I'm pretty psyched. I tried to delay it, but my keyboard died and I was tired of throwing money at the old one. So far my favorite things about the new one are video Skyping (I get to talk to Makaylah in Cairo) and Photo Booth. And I like the working keyboard.

Here's what Photo Booth does, some of my favorite examples.

Sailor and Shoshana came over to start building me a fence this morning, but the lumber didn't arrive so we had to take silly pictures with Emma Lou instead.

Youtube and The Jennys

2008-04-26T23:37:00.000-07:00

I've been on a bit of a Youtube kick lately, so many things on there that I want to share with everyone. Videos of musicians I love, kids in India, spiritual teachers, all kinds of cool stuff.

For now I'll share one of a band I saw at the Aladdin Theater last Sunday night, one I've promoted in the past: The Wailin' Jennys. They are three singer-songwriters (and now one fiddler). Their show here was stunning, brilliant. I loved it, love them, am grateful to know them. If you get a chance to see them, do it. They'll be at the Sisters (OR) Folk Festival in September, but are touring all over the place until then.

Here they are last month in Kansas, one of the better videos I found. There are also a bunch online of them at the 2006 Pickathon, but one of the band members has changed since then.

David's wedding

2008-04-21T19:29:00.000-07:00

My cousin David got married on Saturday night at the Fairmont Hotel in Seattle. Much fun was had.

Lacey and David.

John (my cousin Michael's son), who has lost eight teeth.

My cousin Ben and me.

Two grandmas, Happie and Millie.

My cousins Leah and Ann and me.

John and me.

April update

2008-04-16T10:06:00.000-07:00

Hi there. Things are lovely in Portland. Last Saturday it was 83 degrees and sunny, my veggie starts are growing fast, I finally got the whole lawn mowed, and summer plans are evolving.

I have seen two great shows this past week and been reminded that I still love Mississippi Studios. The first show was Edie Carey and Canadian artist Rose Cousins (I highly recommend you read my real post about that here), the second was Raina Rose, who has some great new songs and a new album in the works (and should really move back home and forget Austin).

Conversations with kids: part 2

2008-04-04T18:04:00.000-07:00

In the car today with Amelia and Josie. Josie is passed out, snoring.

Amelia: "Jess, what do you do for a living?"

Me: "Um, I take care of you, and Josie and River and Willa."

A: "And what else?"

Me: " And I organize concerts for people."

A: "And I thought you were a writer, too?"

Me: "I am a writer, but I don't make any money from it, like your mom. Hopefully I will someday though. I want to."

A: "Oh. Hmm."

Me: "What do YOU do for a living?"

A: She's quiet for a minute, until I think she's blowing off the question because she knows it's silly. And then, "I help people. I help my mom, and I help to do things. That's all so far."

I loved this, because it made me re-examine the phrase, "what do you do for a living?" What we do to live is not just about money, it is clearly about what we do in order to live our lives, which is partly about money, and partly about what we do for ourselves and for other people. Amelia will no doubt be of great service in the world. She already is. And I thank her for seeing me as a writer.

~ ~ ~

Josie and Amelia are painting with watercolors at my dining room table. I'm in the kitchen getting a snack. This is the overheard conversation:

Josie: "Awma, will our momma always be our momma?"

Amelia: "Yes, Josie."

J: "Even when we die?

A: "Yes. She'll be dead then, but she still will always be our mom."

J: " And what will we look like when we die? Even though we're not around?

A: "We'll look like skeletons."

J: "Why will we look like skeletons?"

A: "Because after a long time, all of our body parts will fall off, so we'll look like dead people look."

J: "Oh."

~ ~ ~

The other day I told Willa I was going to have a housewarming party. "What's a housewarming party?"

"It's a party to celebrate your new house."

"Hmm, that doesn't make any sense, Jess. That's dumb. You should call it a house-forming party."

Willa and her latest gap-toothed smile.

River and Josie eating popcorn in the yard.

River, her friend Hunter, and Josie.

Josie with her work of art.

Conversations with kids

2008-04-03T10:06:00.000-07:00

Here are a few priceless ones than I had to share. Keep in mind that Amelia is six, and River and Josie are three.

~~~

We're in the car and NPR is on softly in the background. "Who are you voting for, Jess?" Asks Amelia.

I'm taken aback. "Who are YOU voting for?"

"Barack Obama, I like him best."

"And why is that?"

"Because he'll change more things. More than Hillary."

"Ah, I see. I agree with you. So, what music do you want to listen to? Tracy, or I got a new kids CD with some really cool people on it. Which do you think?"

"The radio, please." Says Amelia.

"OK, but there's no music on."

"I know, Jess. I want to listen about Barack Obama."

And so we do. A few minutes later, they play a clip of Hillary saying that people keep telling her they wish they could vote for both candidates. "That might be possible someday," she says. I consider discussing it with Amelia, but she's already asleep in her carseat and Josie is talking softly to her little plastic piggy.

~ ~ ~

Josie: "Jess, I will always be your friend."

Me: "Always?"

Josie: "Yes, always. But someday, we'll die."

Me: "Yeah, we will."

Jo: "Because everyone dies someday. After a long long long long long time."

Me: "Yep. When they get really old."

Jo: "And sometimes when they get real sick, right Jess?"

Me: "That's right."

Jo: "Cuz things die and flowers die. And some people are already died."

Me: "Yeah.... How'd you know all that?"

Jo: "I'm just really good at thinkin'."

~ ~ ~

River and I are on my front lawn blowing bubbles in all directions and laughing hysterically. There's a good amount of foot traffic here, it's great people-watching. A punked-out young man with a straight-up mohawk and combat boots walks by. Suddenly River gets really quiet. She beckons to me. "Sshhhh, Jess," she says in a reverential tone. "It's an Indian."

What time of day are you?

2008-03-31T02:43:00.001-07:00

Well, I have to copy Rebecca and pass this one on. Since it seemed so accurate for her (she is early morning, I can vouch for that), I had to try it. Not bad.

Here's what I got:

You are twilight. Your exact moment of the day is always changing, because the sun never sets at exactly the same time. You are the romantic moments just after sunset when it's still light enough to see your way around outside, and the sky is a blend of reds, pinks, purples, and blues. At this time of day, the light has a special way of making even rundown buildings looks like works of art. You're like that, too? You're always finding beauty and magic in unexpected places. Not only will you wish on the first star you see, somewhere inside, you actually expect that wish to come true.

Birthday party

2008-03-18T23:26:00.000-07:00

... And here are some pictures from Sunday. Happy Birthday, Amelia!

Ode to Amelia Rose

2008-03-14T13:57:00.000-07:00

In honor of my friend Amelia's 6th birthday today, I am posting some pictures. If you're lucky, I'll post pictures of her birthday party, which will be taking place at my house on Sunday.

She loves the kitties, and they love her....

She loves to hang out with her friends, new friends and old....

Even though you can't see her face, I think this captures her love of dancing

And here's us, playing dress up (me in my hippie clothes from Israel).

Still unpacking, other blogs

2008-03-13T23:09:00.001-07:00

Sorry, I've been slow on the posting. Just trying to unpack my house, decide on curtains, find the best coffee shop on Alberta Street, plan my summer, play Scramble on Facebook, and get over this stupid cold. Anyway, Jonah posted a few cool things, first this very important video about negative ads. And some very cute pictures of his girls. Also, Prema posted a particularly beautiful post, and there's really not much to say after that... (But also check out her recent "Wild Horses" post.)

Before, After, and Tracy

2008-03-04T23:23:00.000-08:00

Here are some interesting pictures of my house, before and after the fire in 2006....

Slowly but surely, I am getting settled in here. Though I did take a short break from unpacking to hit the road with Tracy for the weekend. If you are anywhere near one of her upcoming shows (Seattle, Vancouver BC, upstate NY, California in April), I recommend you gets tickets immediately. Her show in Portland last Friday was sold out. And if you go to the Seattle show, give my grandmother a hug for me.

My new house

2008-02-21T22:32:00.001-08:00

A got a couple of requests for house pictures, so here they are. These are from about a month ago before I closed. The furniture in all but the last one of them is staged (not mine). The house burned mostly down a few years ago, so it's all redone, just the original 1908 foundation and frame. It's very spiffy except for a few corners of the basement. Kind of surreal to be here, actually, but I'm adjusting. :)

OK, here's one from tonight of my mess. For Tracy, who asked for pictures of transition.

Home ownership and responsible shopping

2008-02-17T19:29:00.000-08:00

So I moved into my new house yesterday. It's beautiful. I'm still adjusting to the fact that I could possibly live in such a nice house AND even (co)own it. Pretty amazing.

Equally amazing are my friends. I am so hugely grateful for their help yesterday and all through this process. There is no way I would be here without them.

My real estate agent, Neil, rocks. Not only did he help me move, but tonight he brought me awesome housewarming gifts including a gift certificate to the tea shop I love, wine, and a Mezuzah (a small decoration inscribed with a Hebrew prayer to put outside your door). Oh and leftover sushi. If you live in Portland and you ever need a realtor, find Neil and tell him I sent you (he's also a friend of Holly's).

My neighbors on both sides seem really cool. On the left is a young couple with an adorable 18-month-old daughter and a small flock of chickens in the backyard. On the right is an older couple who brought me homemade blueberry muffins yesterday. :)

There are a bunch of things I need to get for my new house, domestic type things like a lawnmower, some furniture, a fence, window coverings, etc. There are all kinds of resources for things like this, but one thing that's been bugging me is how to find out which companies and products are environmentally (and socially) responsible. As a homeowner, I think it's especially important to pay attention to this stuff. I knew there was a web site for it, but it took me until today to find it: responsibleshopper.com, an offshoot of the Co-op America site, subtitled "economic justice for a just planet." One of the stores specifically that I was unsure about was Home Depot, and they have the scoop. So check out that site, use it well.

Also, a helpful book is "The Rough Guide to Shopping with a Conscience."

Never too late to give away a horse

2008-02-12T22:10:00.000-08:00

For the past several days I've been pretty sick, at the worst of it I had a fever of 102.8. I only ever watch TV when I'm sick, and last night I saw something on OPB that really got to me. It began as the story of C.E.S. Wood, the man who befriended Chief Joseph, and was the one to translate his famous speech, "My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever." C.E.S. Wood's son, Erskine, ended up spending two seasons with Chief Joseph and his tribe in the early 1890s. At the end of this time, Erskine's father asked him to find out if there was anything Joseph wanted in return for helping to raise his son. He said he wanted a stallion, but Erskine thought this was too small a gift (he thought perhaps he should ask for his father's help in getting his land back), so he never passed on the message. He spent the rest of his 104 years telling stories to his family about his time with Chief Joseph and his regret about not fulfilling that last request.

The show I saw on OPB was about how Erskine Wood's granddaughter, Mary, decided to fulfill that request and give a stallion to the Nez Perce, which she and her family did in 1997. Instead of recounting the whole thing here, I'll let you read about it yourself. I hope you read it, it's a great story (and apparently also mentioned in Winona LaDuke's book, "Recovering The Sacred: The Power Of Naming And Claiming").

For some reason, this story really moved me and I wanted to share it. I guess the point is, it's never too late to clean up your family baggage...

Primaries & my own news

2008-02-06T11:09:00.000-08:00

So this week the only thing on NPR (my main news source) has been presidential primaries. We here in Portland don't get to vote for a while yet, so we have time to ponder. I am mostly for Obama, I like him, his appeal to younger people, and what he has to say, but I am still a little nervous about his lack of experience. I want to believe in him.

And I do love the Yes We Can video. Watch it, if you haven't already.

Some people say Obama should wait 4 or 8 years and then run. Some people say that Hillary has too many enemies in Washington. There are all kinds of other things flying around, obviously. I'd love to know the take of my blog readers (if you're out there).

What do you think? Speak up.

~ ~ ~

On an unrelated note, it seems I am actually for real about to (next week) close on a house that my lovely grandmother, Happie, is helping me buy. Its a beautiful house with a spiffy kitchen, a great backyard, just south of NE Alberta, and I am so excited! Of course now that I should be packing up my current house, I am reading blogs about politics, music, lesbian parenting and all kinds of fun things (and this post about something totally lame).

I also have two really great concerts coming up, Tracy Grammer solo, and Kris Delmhorst with the amazing Winterpills (how much do I love Signature Sounds artists?!). I'll say more about them soon (but I will say now that Tracy's show is fast on it's way to selling out).

More girlies and a daddy

2008-01-30T00:43:00.000-08:00

Admit it, you miss the cute kid pictures, you haven't seen a new post of them in literally weeks.... OK, OK. Here are some more. :) And just to change things up, there are some cute daddy pictures included here, too.

First we have some from today of Willa and River. River is missing her momma this week, so we're making extra sure she has a good time. I think it's going OK so far.

When Brandan came home, he and Willa played us the Baby Beluga song. And Willa took this stunning portrait of him.

The last ones are from a few weeks ago when Willa came with me to pick up Amelia and Josie at their school, and then we went to OMSI.

The Sound of Blackbirds

2008-01-17T13:13:00.001-08:00

My friend Ellen Stanley (from Red House Records) and her friend Matt Winters have asked me to join them for a brand new music blog. We're just getting started, but I posted something there today that I had originally intended to post here. Would have been the first post not made up mostly of pictures, but alas, that was not to be here.

The title of the new blog is from a lyric written by Ms. Tracy Grammer, from her song The Verdant Mile.

So head on over and check it out. Leave us a comment! We need plenty of encouragement!

In the desert

2008-01-11T18:30:00.000-08:00

Picture of the week... Makaylah in the desert at Siwa (Egypt):

The Siwa Oasis or Siwah (Wãḥat Sĩwa in Arabic: واحة سيوة) is an oasis in Egypt, located between the Qattara Depression and the Egyptian Sand Sea in the Libyan Desert, just east of the Libyan border, and about 350 miles from Cairo.

And next time I go to Egypt, I want to go sand-surfing! This is Jonah's friend Alex and his sister Julie, last week.

Pictures by Jonah Moos. You don't mind that I steal them and put them here, do you? Obviously I'm too lazy to come up with my own content here.

Chrismas Part 2, late

2008-01-01T10:06:00.000-08:00

I meant to post a few pictures of my friend Amelia on Christmas Eve.

~ ~ ~

Happy Happy New Year!! Happie and I toasted and watched fireworks all along the horizon from her window overlooking Lake Washington. If only I didn't have such a bad cold...

More from Seattle soon.

My new Seattle Teahouse

2007-12-29T16:15:00.000-08:00

I am writing from Teahouse Kuan Yin, my new favorite Seattle hang out. One thing that I like about them is that the web site actually says: "We're proud to report that at least two books in current publication have been largely written here." AND the tea guy (at Townshend's they call them teatenders) actually left the shop and went out to buy more whole milk when I said I wanted some. So I didn't have to drink my tea with skim milk.

I like Victrola Coffee on 15th Ave, but this is much more my scene.

Christmas Part 1: Moos family

2007-12-26T12:53:00.000-08:00

Well, I have a few pictures from a few different Christmas's. I have to share these ones from my cousin Jonah of his family, who are visiting friends in Chester, England (they live in Egypt). Jonah, Jessica, Makaylah and Zoe are looking awfully cute this year. Wish I could see them in person. Maybe next year... I was thinking about how it's possible to love someone you have never met (except to feel her kick from the womb), but think I could say I love this baby almost as much as I already love the rest of her family.

Happie's 88th Birthday

2007-12-18T22:52:00.002-08:00

Today is Happie's 88th Birthday. She took the train down from Seattle this weekend and on Sunday I threw her a little birthday brunch. My lovely friends (and neighbors) Kate Power and Steve Einhorn blessed us with some beautiful music. It was a very sweet gathering.

Cute pictures of the week

2007-12-14T10:12:00.000-08:00

I try to find things to post about besides cute kids, but it hasn't happened this week. Oh well. Here are some of Josie and River yesterday at my house (and in my car).

Willa lost her first tooth last week. The tooth fairy was very kind to her and even left fairy dust on her pillow, and a note.

These last three are of my Israeli cousin Shulli's daughter, Simcha. What a cutie. Good thing I just signed up for a Hebrew class at PCC.

Random pictures

2007-12-03T00:48:00.001-08:00

Some assorted pictures I've been wanting to share. :)

River on Halloween in her angel costume.

River and Josie, under the table.

Willa and I baked some very chocolatey cookies last Monday. Yummy.

Me and Josie.

River.

This is what happens when Prema and Holly and I get together (can you see the laptops lined-up?)... Aka the Butting Writers.

Me, Kate Power, and Steve Einhorn at the Oregon Book Awards tonight.

And some books I am reading right now that I highly recommend: A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas and The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp.

Gratitude

2007-11-29T01:08:00.000-08:00

As an afterthought to Thanksgiving, and at the risk of seeming a bit cheesy, I want to share this video. I don't yet know how to post videos from Youtube (sorry!), so I'll just give you the link here.

Reminds me of something my grandmother, Happie, said as we were leaving Seattle. That she was glad her grandchildren (and other related young people) are working to make the world better. I hope we are, hope I manage to do my part.

Seattle Thanksgiving

2007-11-25T18:28:00.000-08:00

This year was a big Thanksgiving for me, a bigger gathering of family than we've had in the Northwest in years (maybe ever). The coolest part was that my cousin Katie Moos (who's 23) and her friend Rachel Winch flew in to Portland from the Bay Area to drive up to Happie's house in Seattle with me. I really hadn't hung out with Katie much since we were kids (except for one lunch in July) and it was great.

Here are some pictures. I will try to explain who everyone is. I'll start by saying that Katie's grandfather, Charles Moos, was married to my grandmother, Happie, for about 20 years. Katie is my cousin the same way Jonah is. I grew up in Cambridge, MA with Moos cousins around a lot more than Byers's (who were/are in Seattle). Charles had a brother named Edward, who was Abbie's father and Lily and Jamie's grandfather. Abbie lives in Corvallis, Oregon (where she practices acupuncture on horses) and Lily and her husband Pete live in Seattle. Jamie goes to school in San Diego. See if you can follow.

My cousin Ben Byers (Peter's son) has a houseboat on Lake Union in Seattle. This is Ben, me, and Katie on it's top deck on Wednesday for some cousin bonding. Cold.

Ms. Rachel Winch (Katie's friend/roommate from Berkeley) on Ben's houseboat.

Katie in my leather jacket at Happie's.

Katie and Lily Schwering Armstrong in Happie's kitchen.

It's obvious who wins for most photogenic.

Happie and Pete Armstrong, Lily's husband.

We actually succeeded at making a great meal despite some unexpected oven issues and 17 trips to the grocery store.

Katie and Ben, with Peter, Ginna, and Lily in the background.

Me and Lily at dinner.

Happie and Peter looking at some old pictures I found.

Pete showing wedding pictures to Rachel and Katie on his laptop.

Happie telling a story.

Me, Happie, and her friend Victoria.

Pete, Lily, Tom (Abbie's boyfriend), Jamie, and Abbie near Pike Place Market on Friday.

We all had a lovely time together. The end of the story is that Katie, Rachel and I drove back down to Portland on Friday night, I showed them around Portland a bit, they got me out dancing, and just when we thought we were going to get a few hours of sleep before their 7am flight today, a car crashed into my lawn and impaled itself on the signpost on the corner. Rachel, who was sleeping on the couch, came in to my room at 3am and woke me saying, "Jess, there are cars driving on your lawn." So I got up, saw two cars on my lawn and some suspicious people, and called the police. Nobody was hurt, in fact all involved abandoned the scene before the police arrived, and there was a car stuck in my lawn for a while. They needed four cop cars and a fire truck to stand around gawking at it until the tow truck guy finally managed to get it figured out. The city promptly replaced the street signs (including a stop sign) today around noon. All that's left is a chunk missing from my lawn and some broken head light pieces. And Rachel, who got bumped from her flight home, and is meeting me for Thai food in ten minutes.

How to be Righteous

2007-11-14T23:42:00.000-08:00

I have 17 things I have been meaning to blog the last few weeks (Halloween pictures of River, pictures of Zoe and Makaylah, other cute kid pictures, something about Wordstock, my favorite passages from "When We Get There", something about how great Antje Duvekot was last night at Mississippi Studios, etc etc). But tonight I was talking to Prema about how great Lori McKenna is, and then I rediscovered this song I have loved for years. So here it is and now I'm going to bed. More soon. I hope.

How to be Righteous
Lori McKenna

Don’t judge me
I will judge myself
I will lie in my bed at night
Wide awake or asleep
I will feel pain
when I know I have given it
Everything I put out to the world
I know comes back to me

Oh when angels hear the devil’s call
and my vision’s unclear
got no sense at all
I’m just hoping I will obey my conscience
I want to learn
How to be righteous

Well I saw it on a TV show
I bought the book you know
Made a change when
I thought the preacher was talking to me
But it’s not easy, no
To get over and let it go
All these feelings that are burning and building up inside of me

And when angels hear the devil’s call
and my vision’s unclear
got no sense at all
I’m just hoping I will obey my conscience
I want to learn
How to be righteous

Well I look at all I have
and I’ll claim it
won’t let anybody else
ever tell me who I should be
I’ll look in the mirror and
gaze in my children’s eyes
and I will not give a damn what anybody else thinks of me

And when questions come, I will answer right
be true to myself, maybe put up a fight
Will not heed to greed
I’ll obey my conscience
I want to learn
I need to learn
How to be righteous

So when angels hear the devil’s call
and my vision’s unclear
got no sense at all
I’m just hoping I’ll obey my conscience
I want to learn
I need to learn
How to be righteous

Happy Birthday, Holly

2007-10-26T15:33:00.000-07:00

Here is the birthday girl on her birthday last Tuesday. She and Prema and I had the biggest yummiest slabs of sushi at Holly's favorite place in Sellwood, Saburo. If you missed the story of the rest of her day, go here (and see 38).

This seems like a good time to do one of those gushy birthday posts people do... Because Holly has given me such a huge gift of friendship this year, that's there's really no way to sum it up here. But this week was also our year anniversary of meeting, and we have both been through so much this year. I could most definitely not have done what I did this year without Holly and her wise words and late night conversations (on my couch or via a phone or computer on the other side of the country). And I am so blessed that she has shared her two beautiful crazy girls with me. I wanted to write something longer here, but I've been stuck on it for a few days and mostly I'm just speechless.

So Happy Birthday, Holly. Big, big love.

And I just love this picture, from last Monday at the Rooster Rock beach.

What Book Are You?

2007-10-21T22:30:00.000-07:00

So I took this quiz twice (sorry, that's sneaky, I know) and the first time I was The Poisonwood Bible and the second time I got this. Not a bad quiz.... Let me know what you get!

You're A People's History of the United States!

by Howard Zinn

After years of listening to other peoples' lies, you decided you've had enough. Now you're out to tell it like it is, with all the gory details and nothing left out. Instead of respecting leaders, you want to know what the common people have to offer. But this revolution still has a long way to go, and you're not against making a little profit while you wait. Honesty is your best policy.
Take the Book Quiz at the Blue Pyramid.

Writing Meme

2007-10-14T17:29:00.000-07:00

Alright, Holly tagged me, so....

1. I have wanted to be a writer ever since I could write. Starting around third grade I wrote stories and kept journals. In 4th grade, my friend Emily and I made up our own language and used it at school.

2. In high school I won entry from my school (of about 2300?) into a writing contest of the National Council of Teachers of English.

3. In college I took some literature classes, but neglected to pick a school that had any creative writing program. After that I forgot that writing was so important to me, much less that I wanted to be a writer, although I still kept a journal (I now have a few boxes of about fifty-something volumes).

4. I didn’t really get back to writing seriously (seriously??) until about two years ago when I took a class with Ariel Gore at The Attic Writer’s Workshop.

5. I took a pretty big leap this summer and decided to take a trip to find/write the story about my mother/my family/myself that feels like it needs to be told. It was amazing, I got more out of it than I could have hoped, and now I am plugging away at working with the material I collected and making sense of it, and honestly I am pretty terrified about whether I can turn it into an actual book. The actual word book is scariest of all.

6. I am so eternally grateful for all the writing buddies I have found in the last year, for everyone who has read any of my writing or supported me in doing it. Thank you. Also grateful for the music and the musicians that have kept me inspired (and employed) through this process. And the kids (see below). ☺

7. I tag Terry, Jonah, and Rebecca. And I'll tag Prema (again), just to be sure. :)

PS What is a MEME??

My favorite girls

2007-10-10T23:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I can't help it. I have to post pictures of my favorite girls again, since it's been so long since I have. Its been so great to come home this fall and have them to hang out with. And I am so excited that my friend Prema and her daughter River have moved to Portland. A new friend here, and a very cool new almost-three-year-old to hang out with (just the same age as Josie).

Willa and Josie in the sandbox in Willa's backyard.

Love this face. :)

Willa and Amelia in my living room during brunch at my house on Sunday (in honor of Kate visiting from DC). I love this one.

Prema and River in the living room.

Willa, Amelia, Holly and Josie reading a book.

Josie reading to me ("reading") from Charlotte's Web. Love that outfit.

Amelia and Kate, who hit it off pretty well. :)

A few pictures from the DP&M show

2007-10-06T21:58:00.000-07:00

The blog posting has slowed down lately, sorry about that. Things were very busy with the Deva Premal & Miten show in the last stretch there, and then right afterwards I got sick (I'm better now). But the show was quite amazing, we had over 500 people there, the musicians were among the sweetest people I've ever worked with, and the music was beautiful. I wish I could experience it a few more times (the show, not the preparations and promotion!).

Here are some other pictures from the show (the ones in the bottom two rows are from Portland, the others are from Omega in NY).

My grandmother went to the DP&M show in Seattle with a friend and she compared it to Pete Seeger because they were getting the community to sing together. :)

DP&M have their own blog, too.

I'm taking a hiatus from concert production for a while to hang out with my favorite girls (those in the five and under category) and to write.

PS Isn't that a cool shirt? Thanks, Prema (for the shirt and half your living room on the stage)!

Deva Premal show Sept 26!

2007-09-19T10:14:00.000-07:00

Being done with news of my trip (for now anyway), I have to tell you all about my next big project: a concert, the biggest one I've done in Portland thus far - Deva Premal & Miten, a duo who perform gorgeous arrangements of (mostly) Sanskrit chants and mantras. They have never played in Portland before and people are coming from far and wide.

This show is especially close to my heart and I am truly honored to be able to do it. I first heard Deva and Miten's first album, The Essence, in 1998. You see, they met and began playing together at the Osho Ashram in Pune, India. This is the ashram I have visited twice (and that my dad has been involved with since the 70s)- for several months in 1993-94 and again in 98-99. In 98, The Essence had just been released and Deva Premal was not yet a world-wide success. They played the album often in the main meditation hall during times of music and dancing or sometimes meditation (it was all meditation, right?!). I became somewhat obsessed with their version of the Gayatri Mantra, a mantra that became very meaningful to me that year as it accompanied several significant experiences I had while I was in India (maybe something to write about later). I returned to the States with that CD, and it really represented that time to me. I listened to it when I wanted to be back in that meditation hall in Pune or back on the overnight bus to Goa where I listened to it over and over on my discman. I didn't really know what it was, just that I loved her voice and that it felt like it bestowed some kind of healing/protection on me, it was comforting. Only later did I really learn what it meant, that it is said to purify and protect you from all harm and that chanting the Gayatri several times a day is said to take care of all the ill effects of the day's karma.

Apparently at that time, people from far and wide were also falling in love with The Essence. Cher is quoted as saying it's the only thing she will listen to when she does yoga. The Dalai Lama heard them and said, "Beautiful, beautiful music." There are other interesting quotes in their press kit, and I love what a diverse audience they have attracted with this music that would once have been considered pretty obscure. Deva and Miten have since released four more albums of their beautiful music, including the recently released "Deva Premal Sings the Moola Mantra," and become world-wide top sellers in their genre. I saw them perform in a tiny dance studio in Boulder once to about 50 people. Now they are playing big theaters and fill 1500 seats in some cities. She is often referred to in the press as the Mantra Queen.

German-born Deva Premal is a classically trained musician who grew up singing mantras as bedtime songs. And Miten is a veteran of the 70s London rock scene, having toured with the likes of Fleetwood Mac, Ry Cooder, and Lou Reed. One of his early albums was produced by the Kinks. He left his career to focus on meditation and ended up leading music groups in Osho's ashram, where he met Deva in 1990.

I've been trying to get Deva and Miten to Portland for years, and it finally worked. They are now on a big North American tour and my production company, Shining City, will be presenting them next Wednesday, Sept 26th, at the First Congregational Church (which holds 800 people) on SW Park in Portland. I did a few bigger shows like this in Missoula, and it's an entirely different experience than doing a small club show. I have been working on this since mid-Spring and at wifi cafes everywhere throughout the summer (also with the assistance of my friend Arupo, who has kicked ass networking on behalf of this show).

Really this is about the music, more than the people (though it is often about both for me). The beauty of their voices and the openness with which they sing. This quote from a recent concertgoer sounds almost excessive, but I believe it: “I’ve been going to concerts since 1965, but never have I experienced the peace, the joy and the depth of stillness that I felt in your concert.” And for this tour, Deva and Miten will have Nepalese bansuri (that's bamboo flute) player Manose with them.

If you are in the Portland area, I would love to have you at the concert! Come! They will also be in Seattle (where my grandmother is on the guest list) on Saturday night, Sept 22nd and in other cities (in CA, AZ, NV and FL) over the next month. If you go, drop by here and tell me how you liked it!

Last stop Seattle.

2007-09-16T11:17:00.000-07:00

These ones are a bit late, forgive me (this was last weekend). Just a little behind here. These truly, are the last of my trip. Even though Seattle was a separate trip, it felt like part of the same one. So I got to see Kari O. and her family, which was lovely. Cute girls and a cute husband for sure. :)

Erin, Lauren, Kari, and me in their backyard in Woodinville, WA.

Kari's husband Sean, and daughter, Lauren.

The view from Happie's little balcony: Lake Washington and the Cascades.

My grandmother, Happie, outside her building on Capitol Hill.

I also got to see Jen Johnson (from the writing workshop in Sisters in June), which was great, but which I didn't stop to think about taking pictures of. Oh well. We went to Vivace on Capitol Hill and drank good coffee.

The other people I neglected to take pictures of but who I had a very nice visit with, were my uncle Peter, aunt Ginna, and cousin Ben. Maybe I'll see them again at Thanksgiving and get some pictures then. Or maybe before that.

I had a lovely mellow birthday on Thursday, dinner with Holly and Prema, Thai food and cocktails. And many wonderful phone calls.

Now I'm hard at work on my upcoming Deva Premal concert. More on that soon. If you are in Portland, get your tickets now!

Onward into the fall!

Best and worst of the summer

2007-09-13T10:48:00.000-07:00

State with the most state troopers on the road: Kansas (by a long shot)
Dumbest driving choice: Crossing the border from Michigan to Canada (and back) on a Friday in July when I didn’t have to.
Most roadkilled animal: Raccoon
Most roadkilled deer: West Virginia
Worst thunderstorms: St. Charles, Missouri
Nights spent in motels: Six (Boise, ID, Rock Springs, WY, Gloucester MA, Winchester KY, and Brigham City UT)
Most sketchy motel: Rock Springs, Wyoming
Best goat cheese and goat ice cream: Happytown Dairy (aka Elise's house), Lawrence, KS
Toughest yoga class: Om Time, Boulder, CO
Weirdest yoga class: Ann Arbor, MI
Most expensive deli ($9 bread): Zingerman’s, Ann Arbor, MI
Worst road construction: Odgen, Utah
Best random connection: What Maeluise called “The Debes Coincidence” in Rochester, NY
Most last-minute lunch: Katie Moos in Cambridge
Most confusing place to drive around: the Amherst/Shutesbury MA area
Single most frequent graffiti word in states all over: Impeach!
Most pregnant cousin: Jessica Basmadjian Moos (or Moosmadjian)
Latest baby: Ms. Zoe Moos
Coolest babies that I actually met: Sylvie Grayson-Neff and Ruby Donaldson
Coolest twins: Hazel and John
Best household of kitties: This is a tie, there was no way to break it: Kermit and Stella (left, DC), Miss Kitty and Madonna (Shutesbury, MA), America, Flip, and Gretzky (Bethesda, MD), and Suzette and Gigi (Boulder, CO).
Best new (old) band that I got to see live: The Dead Horses (MA)
Person seen the most number of separate times on the trip: Ms. Alexandra Karnow
Best cover song performed live: George Michael's "Faith" performed by Ms. Tracy Grammer at Falcon Ridge (thank you!)
Person I hadn’t seen for the longest amount of time before this summer: Tie between Cal Andrews (MA) and Carol Thrane (Kansas City) – both 17 years (before my mom died).
Most adorable 80-something folksinger: Pete Seeger
Best day of pure vacation: Fire Island with Lucy, David and Louis
Best tea shop: Tie between TeaDrops in Kansas City (best tea: Keemun Mao Feng), and Tea Spot and Pekoe in Boulder
Best coffee shop: Tie between Rao’s in Amherst, MA, Haymarket in Northampton, MA, The Lone Gull Coffeehouse in Gloucester, MA, and The Trident in Boulder, CO.
Prettiest latte: Cushman, Amherst (see above)
Best cocktail: Tie between Bloody Marys made by Louis on Fire Island, Margaritas on Jim Henry’s porch, and the Mango Jalapeno Margarita at Tahona in Boulder.
Best pedicure: Salon Bellezzio, Blue Springs, Missouri
Keys to houses still in my possession: Rochester, NY and Boulder, CO.
Best podcast discovery: Barnes & Noble’s Meet the Writers
Best new CD of the summer: Lori McKenna’s “Unglamorous”
Miles covered: 8,850 (this is calculated about as close as I can get it for now, and is probably way too low because it doesn’t include getting lost or stopping for gas or other things)
And let’s not even calculate the money spent on gas, OK?

Books of my travels

2007-09-11T21:44:00.000-07:00

When you travel around the country and tell people are you writing they suggest books, they loan you books, they give you books. So here are the books I have acquired in my travels:

A great batch of books from Jerri (who suggested I make this list):
Revenge of the Paste Eaters: Memoirs of a Misfit – Cheryl Peck
Fat Girls and Lawn Chairs – Cheryl Peck
The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
Before Women Had Wings - Connie May Fowler

One I bought in Iowa City after I met Jerri’s hilarious friend Barb in KC:
Change Me into Zeus’s Daughter – Barbara Robinette Moss

I finally got hold of Marge Piercy's memoir, Sleeping With Cats, at a used book store in Ann Arbor. Interesting stuff, but the workshop with her turned out to be a bit disappointing. She's a great writer, but a somewhat cantankerous person who did not seem thrilled to be teaching.

Jim Kates is a high school friend of my mom’s and the head of Zephyr Press. He gave me a few books:
The Lemon Tree: An Arab, A Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East – Sandy Tolan
Say Thank You: Poems by Mikhail Aizenberg, translated by Jim Kates

Lucy gave me a memoir she liked:
Jesusland: A Memoir – Julia Scheeres

Kate and Jen in DC gave me a copy of their friend Shauna’s first novel (which is great so far): When We Get There – Shauna Seliy
(I just saw that Shauna will be at Wordstock in November!)

My grandmother, Happie, gave me this novel the other day: The Elegant Gathering of White Snows – Kris Radish

And my other grandmother, Netta, sent me this novel about a small village just before the creation of Israel for my birthday this week (she can usually be counted on for something on the topic of Israel from a conservative perspective): The Blue Mountain – Meir Shalev

A book I need to mention here that I read in June is The Wholeness of a Broken Heart by Katie Singer. It's a book about four or five generations of Jewish women that feels something like what I hope to write.

And last but not least, my friend Deidre gave me a slew of amazing audiobooks from Sounds True, where she works in Boulder. I won't list every single one, but she gave me CDs from Ram Dass, Natalie Goldberg, Julia Cameron, Jack Kornfield, Clarissa Pinkola Estes and several others. Such a great gift for the road!

I think that's it, but the list of books I need to get from the library is very long now! I have so much reading to do! Please leave any further book suggestions in the comments.

Stay tuned for pictures from Seattle and a Best & Worst of my trip list (feel free to email me additions to that, too).

Northwestward, homeward

2007-09-06T00:49:00.000-07:00

Here are a few last pictures from Boulder, and some from the drive home.

The Flatirons from the south.

Jeanne and Bindu on a rock overlooking Gross Reservoir (SW of Boulder).

Gross Reservoir and Dam.

A lizard I made friends with.

View of Boulder from Flagstaff Mountain.

Zetta (Jane's partner) on Sunday evening, when we spent a lovely few hours. She gave me a beautiful necklace she'd made, and I gave her some music. :)

Ms. Beth Amsel and I after a nice breakfast on Monday morning. I should add that she will be touring very soon, so check out her web site for dates near you. She is awesome live, and I'm not just saying that because I love her. :)

Road and sky along 287 in northern Colorado. I saw a quite a few dark ominous skies like this over the next few days (and they did not improve the driving conditions).

More dark sky.

An interesting sign in Tie Siding, Wyoming. I did not pay 50 cents (I wasn't offended, just cheap).

The Snake River just west of Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls, Idaho (thank you Tracy).

Shoshone Falls and a rainbow.

Shoshone Falls, wider view.

...And off I drove into the sunset (near Pendleton, OR)...

Yes, I'm home now. Still very much in recovery mode...

Boulder, again

2007-09-03T10:52:00.000-07:00

I got to make another stop in Boulder, see a few people I didn't have time to see the first time (Beth, Deidre), and see Bindu and Jeanne and Jane and Zetta again.

Mountains on the way in to Boulder on 36.

Me and Parmita, who runs White Swan Records (Deva Premal's label, and where I worked for the summer of 1995, among other things). She is an old friend of mine (I used to camp on her mountainside with friends when I was a teenager) and of Jane's, and has known my dad a long time.

Ms. Deidre Saddoris taking a break from her margarita on Pearl Street. Dee was my roommate in the Pea Green Dyke Den in 96-97, and we reconnected last year after we ran into each other at the Rocky Mtn Folks Fest. She now has two boys and works at Sounds True in the publicity dept. Cool job. :) There was a picture of me drinking a mango jalapeno margarita, but I think you've seen enough here of me and my foofy cocktails.

Me and Jane Seaton, mom of Bindu, ex of my dad's, good friend and amazing woman and writer. I think that covers it.

Jane and her partner Zetta, who I feel very lucky to have spent some time with.

Sunset on the Flatirons.

The ceiling of the Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse.

Bindu and Jeanne at the Boulder Teahouse.

Me and my tea.

Jeanne, Bindu and me outside the Teahouse.

Jerri, her son Evan, and her father (Independence, MO). So glad I got to meet them, and so glad I got to see Jerri again and hang out a little. And my toes are all fixed up nice, too! :)

To everyone I have stayed with or spent time with on this trip, HUGE thanks to you for taking sure good care of me and sharing yourselves and your stories. This trip would not have been possible without you, and I am going to go home and work hard (after I sleep for a long time) to put my stories together, keep writing, and see what I can make of all this.

Just had a lovely breakfast with Beth. And, now (after a few more minutes in the Trident Cafe) I am headed home!! (But there will be more Boulder pictures and probably some of the drive.)

DC and Maryland

2007-08-26T12:22:00.000-07:00

Here are the pictures from Maryland and DC, last week. I had a really great time looking up family history stuff with my mom's cousin, Bob Baum (Barbra's son, Margo and David's brother). He has all kinds of great old family stuff, letters and things going back quite a ways, as well as this family tree program that he's entered seven generations of our family into. I loved it (and I want a Mac compatible one, so consider that my birthday is in 3 weeks...). ;)

Bob took me for a walk along the trail at the C&O (Chesapeake and Ohio) Canal near Bethesda, which was quite beautiful.

Bob's wife Karen and her daughter, Cassie.

Bob cooking breakfast (pancakes...yum).

Bob's cats, Flip and America.

This I thought was so cute, until I noticed it was slightly obscene. Oh well.

The next batch of pictures are of my friends Kate (who I know from Missoula) and Jen, and Kate's son Elliot, in DC. I love them, love their kitties, love their guest room. Feel free to explain to them in your comments why they need to move to Portland (which they are considering doing, in, um, 1-4 years).

Kate and Jen.

Elliot at the dinner table.

Kate and Stella.

Kate and Stella.

Ms. Jen Kern.

Jen and me.

Elliot and Kate: a somewhat psychedelic phone picture. I like it.

August 25th.

2007-08-25T15:43:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share these today. The black and white ones are pictures of my mother (right) and her cousin Judith (who now lives in Arcata, CA) at their grandparents 50th(?) wedding anniversary party, taken by my grandfather Paul (1968?). The bottom one is my mom and me, circa 1977.

You can read my post from last year on this day, it has another picture of my mom, more recent, and some other stuff...

(Stay tuned for pictures from DC. I'm now back at Jerri's in Kansas City....)

Finally made it to Philly (and DC)!

2007-08-18T20:08:00.001-07:00

So I finally got to hang out with my friend Terry, of Separation Anxieties. She had done one of Jennifer's previous writing workshops and is an old friend of Carrie's. We met once over lunch at Old Wives Tales (with Carrie and Holly) in Portland in February, but then were unable to see each other when I was east in April (due to a bit of family drama). So I was thrilled to see her and finally meet her gorgeous and talented family (I got to see Leo in Suessical: The Musical on Thursday night, he was the Mayor of Whoville). We had such a great time. Terry is just one of those people I could talk to forever (and she has plenty to say, too...). :)

Terry says about the top picture, "I'm trying to do my Jess impression." Hmmm.

Sophie, Greg, Terry, and Leo.

Philly at dusk photographed from the little red Miata convertible.

More downtown Philly at dusk (notice the Israeli flag..). Terry, you can tell us what building these are...

At lunch on Friday at a really funky restaurant called Pod. The different colored florescent lights were a little intense, but Sophie was into it!

I am currently in DC with my friends Kate and Jen, also going to see my cousin Bob in a little bit.

New York, New York!

2007-08-16T08:24:00.000-07:00

I just had the most fabulous week in New York City. Mostly hanging out with Lucy (and one more dinner with David and Louis). We went to the Terrace in the Sky restaurant on Tuesday night. This was where Happie and Charles had their wedding reception in January 1980, when I was four. I had a memory of hanging out with my brand new cousin Jonah and trying to reach a bowl of candy on the bar, so I wanted to go see it. The view was amazing, but the bar had been renovated and was different. The drinks were good anyway.

On the roof at the Terrace in the Sky.

At Picnic, a lovely place at Bway and 101st.

Times Square on the way home.

Then yesterday morning I got to see Kim and Isabel! Kim had done Jennifer's second workshop with me in February. She used to be in publishing and is now raising her gorgeous daughter Isabel. We went for a lovely walk in Central Park and then to the carousel, which I hadn't been on since I was little. I loved that carousel when I was little. I have a picture somewhere of me on it when I was five, just recovering from chicken pox (still covered in red spots), wearing a sailor suit. Must find that.. Anyway, here's Kim, Isabel and me.

This morning I am back in Spring Valley with Alex and Miriam and Gerald, and later I am off to Philly to see Terry! :) OK, must re-pack my car now.

Pete Seeger and Kate & Steve

2007-08-14T07:25:00.000-07:00

On Sunday I took the train north to Beacon, New York to the Corn Festival, a little festival by the Hudson River with lots of corn and some good music. Mostly I went to see my great friends Kate and Steve (who live about half a mile from me in Portland) and to see the great Pete Seeger. And my cousin Alex came up to hang out for some of it (thank you Alex, and sorry about the traffic).

Pete is 88 and totally adorable. He played for half and hour, got the audience singing, and galloped around like it was nothing. Kate and Steve are always great, and I can't tell you how wonderful it was to hear their voices and hang out with them for a while. Wish it could have been longer though.

Pete Seeger.

Steve and Kate.

Kate and Steve.

Kate and Steve.

Me and Kate.

Steve, me and Kate.

More Fire Island pictures!

2007-08-12T21:58:00.000-07:00

Some more pictures from Fire Island.
David (Lucy's son), me, and Louis (Lucy's nephew) at Cherry Grove. I love that they have as many rainbow flags as American ones (maybe more).

Lucy.

Eating shrimp cocktail at Cherry Grove (apparently known for being more alternative and full of drag queens and aging lesbians, though I didn't see a lot of those things).

The boardwalk that criss-crosses the island (there are no roads and no cars).

One of the may ill-behaved and very gregarious deer on Fire Island.

These next ones document Louis and me (OK mostly him, but I supervised) making Bloody Marys and drinking them on the front deck. Definitely a highlight! They turned out very well, but I may still have to work on perfecting this skill at my next cocktail party.

Boys playing volleyball on the beach.

Lucy on the beach.

Me playing in the water.

All the boys and Lucy at dinner.

Lucy and me.

Scarsdale and Fire Island

2007-08-10T20:53:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of pictures of Alex and me with our great-aunt Barbra, Happie and Mae's younger sister. These are from Tuesday night in Scarsdale.

Barbra gave me some old manuscripts of my great-grandmother, Amie. Who knows what manuscripts really mean, but it makes her writings sound important, and they certainly are, to me. They consist of three or four short stories she wrote when she took some writing classes.

And now I'm on Fire Island (The Pines) with Lucy, who is, technically, my step-grandmother. But she's not really quite old enough to be my grandmother, and is a little hipper than a grandmother (no offense, Grami). So, she's just Lucy. We've been having a lovely time out here in this amazing place. Yesterday was dark and rainy so we drank good wine, read old letters, looked at pictures, and just talked (and of course watched all the flamers on the boardwalk). It is awfully nice to talk to people who really knew my mother, and my grandfather. And someone who is so fabulous regardless of all that.

Today is clear and sunny and it's a whole new place. Lucy's son David and her nephew Louis arrived late last night, as well as their friend Richard and his boyfriend. Some of us are going on a walk along the beach to Cherry Grove soon.

Some old old family pictures...

2007-08-09T16:46:00.000-07:00

This week I spent a few days at my great aunt Barbra's house in Scarsdale, New York. Barbra has all kinds of good pictures and letters in her house, and I had some of them scanned. I did the same at Maeluise's house in Rochester last month. So here are some of the pictures I found.

I'm not totally clear on exactly how many generations back this is, but it's Happie's father's side (the Nusbaums), German Jews. It is labeled "early 1800's".

The woman on the top right is Hattie Ballin, Happie's grandmother who she was named after. The youngest one in the front is Florence, who became a famous artist (you can find a bit about her on Google), she moved to Woodstock NY, died in the 60s. There are tons of gorgeous old postcards in Barbra's house, sent to Florence in places she traveled to all over Europe in the 1890s and 1900's. She later Married Konrad Cramer, also a well-known painter.

There is a later picture of Florence here: http://www.newpaltz.edu/museum/exhibitions/maverick/fcramerdet.htm
and some info about her and Konrad and another picture here.

This is my great-grandfather, Ferdinand Nusbaum (Happie, Mae, and Barbra's father) with his mother, Hattie Ballin Nusbaum.

Ferd and his sister Janet, who much later wrote a memoir (just for the family) which from what I've seen so far is hilarious. She was a poet. I don't think I met Aunt Janet (though Barbra thinks I have), but I like her! And I love this picture.

Hattie with her three kids, Janet, Barney, and Ferd.

Hattie Ballin Nusbaum, my great-great-grandmother. There is something about her expression that makes me love her. And she's quite a handsome woman, don't you think? She died in the 20s, or around the time of Happie (her grand-daughter's) birth.

This is my great-grandmother, Sadie Peller Nusbaum, later known as Amie (because she preferred that to Grandma). She died when I was ten, I remember visiting her grand apartment on 86th Street when I was little. I love this one.

Happie and Maeluise, around 1923. They both look so much like themselves here.

Happie, Maeluise, and their dad, Ferd.

Katie and Alex and Miriam

2007-08-06T22:30:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I had lunch with my cousin Katie Moos in Cambridge (I didn't even know she was there until a few hours before I left, thanks Jonah...). I hadn't seen her in two years and hadn't had a real conversation with her in many more years than that (probably not since she was a kid, she's 23 now). It was really good to see her and hear about what she's up to these days. She's going to San Francisco to work for 6 months in the fall, so maybe I'll see her again....

So I am now in Spring Valley, New York staying with my cousin Alex and her parents, Miriam and Gerald. Miriam is Maeluise's younger daughter (Judi is the older) and my mom's cousin. They live in the Rudolph Steiner Fellowship Community, “an intergenerational community centered around the care of the elderly. We seek to work and learn together using the spiritual science anthroposophy of Rudolf Steiner as our basis.” It's a lovely place, although I've been so tired that I haven't seen a lot of it yet. But here is Alex and Miriam.

Tomorrow Alex and I are going to Scarsdale to see our great-aunt Barbra.

Oh, and Jonah has posted a slideshow of pictures, including some very cute ones of Zoe and Makaylah. That is here.

Two days at the beach

2007-08-02T21:05:00.000-07:00

From Monday to Wednesday I went to Cape Ann/Gloucester, MA and visited the two beaches that my mom used to take me to when I was a kid (we often went with Cal and her boys, too). Also went to Woodman's, the seafood joint we used to go for lobster, where they apparently invented fried clams.

Here are some pictures from Gloucester, a walk in the dunes at Crane's Beach, and a day at Wingaersheek Beach (which was always my favorite, because I loved climbing on the rocks and catching crabs). I don't have time for a lot more details, but here are the pictures. The bird in the tree is for Jonah and Tracy, who each have a certain fondness for birds. :)

Falcon Ridge!

2007-08-01T10:35:00.000-07:00

Pictures from Falcon Ridge Folk Fest last weekend.

Jim Henry and Ms. Tracy Grammer on the workshop stage (I think this was the Beatles one?).

Richard Shindell.

Katryna Nields.

JH and Tracy at another workshop set, with Mary Gauthier.

I like this one. :)

Workshop stage crowd shot.

Tracy with my cousin Alex.
Tracy and me.

Jim Olsen (of Signature Sounds) checking the wind direction.

Rebecca picking out a new skirt.

Me working at the Signature Sounds tent.

Arlo Guthrie.

Jim Henry, looking suave as usual.

Artists waiting in line to settle up at the end of the festival, fanning themselves with their paperwork. I don't know who everyone is here, but Cheryl Prashker is on the left, then Maura Kennedy, and Tracy is 2nd from right.

And then, I went to the beach, so stay tuned for that!

Update from Cambridge.

2007-07-30T14:22:00.000-07:00

I haven't had time to post anything for a while because I was out of internet range at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival this weekend. But before that, I spent the week in Cambridge, so here are some pictures from there.

Me on the front steps of the house we lived in the longest during my childhood. 54 Kinnaird Street near Central Square.

I was stunned to see that my climbing structure, though totally decaying into the fence, is still in the back corner of the backyard. I am sure nobody has used it in 20 years, it was falling apart even before we moved out in 1989.

My friend Emily on the front steps on Kinnaird St.

Me by the Charles River, where I used to spend a fair bit of time.

My old elementary school, Graham & Parks, is no longer housed in this building on Upton St (about 4 blocks from the house on Kinnaird). It seems to have become a parking lot, which was sad to see.

Emily and her niece, Ruby (her brother Caleb's daughter). It was a pleasure to meet Miss Ruby.

Ruby and her monkey and her sunscreen.

My mother's grave in Mount Auburn Cemetery.

Me standing on the ramp at the Boston University School of Social Work that my mother and her friends fought for in 1990.

My mom's good friend, Cal Andrews, who I had dinner with twice. Hadn't seen her in 17 years. It was really wonderful to see her.

Joanne and her and Beth's son, Gabriel. Joanne was my mother's girlfriend the year she got sick. We've been in touch ever since, but I hadn't seen her in about 6 years, and had not yet met Gabriel and Beth. So it was really good to stay there and hang out with them (and they happen to live about half a mile from the house on Kinnaird Street and even closer to the apartment we lived in in 1989-90 on Chestnut St).

Me and Joanne.

Stay tuned for a few pictures from Falcon Ridge. I'm taking a few days off from the visiting go to the beach and write. Then I'll go back to Cambridge for a few days before the Marge Piercy workshop at Omega next weekend.

And even more pictures from Western Mass...

2007-07-23T23:42:00.000-07:00

I'm writing from my hometown of Cambridge, Mass. From Joanne's house, which is about half a mile from two of the places I lived growing up. More about being here soon, but first I'll post some pictures from my adventures in Western Mass this past week. The first one is my beautiful butterfly latte from Cushman (Amherst) where I sat with Tracy to write last week.

Outside the Route 63 Roadhouse in Millers Falls for my first Dead Horses show (Wednesday)!

The Dead Horses are (from left) Chris Devine, Guy Devito, Doug Plavin, and Jim Henry.

Madonna, Tracy's beautiful (and, um, full bodied) kitty.

Rebecca outside her farmstand in Montague.

View from the balcony of the Guthrie Center, where Tracy and Jim Henry had a gig last Friday night.
It was nice to have Arlo and his message with us there... :)

Hot air balloons at the Green River Festival in Greenfield on Saturday.

Tracy giggling at her laptop in Rao's, Amherst on Sunday.

Jim Henry and I on his lovely deck in Shutesbury.

The elusive Mr. Jackson Henry.

Ruby and Tracy on the deck.

Me and Miss Kitty, Tracy's house, Sunday night.

Pictures from Rochester and Western. MA

2007-07-20T07:22:00.000-07:00

Here are bunch of pictures from various things that I have been meaning to share.

Maeluise and I in Rochester on Monday night.

Tracy and I making quesadillas at Jim Henry's house on Tuesday night.

Jim Henry.

Jim Henry's lovely (and tough!) daughter Ruby and her friend, India.

My cousin Alex (Mae's granddaughter) and me at Rebecca's house on Wednesday night.

Tracy playing the banjo at Rebecca's house.

Rebecca trying to fix her roommate's cello.

Welcome Zoe Elizabeth Moos!

2007-07-18T23:47:00.000-07:00

Miss Zoe Moos finally decided to join us. She was born at 8:53pm, she was nine pounds. I got a message from Jonah about a half an hour later (or maybe it was sooner, but the cell reception here is very sketchy). I happened to be at Rebecca's house in Montague with Tracy, my cousin Alexandra, and her friend Melissa. We were all pretty excited to hear the message (yes, I played it on speakerphone).

We had all gone to see Jim Henry play with the The Dead Horses at the Route 63 Roadhouse in Millers Falls. A stunning show.

Now I'm back in Shutesbury with Tracy. Lovely to be here in the woods with her, Miss Kitty, and Madonna (who sleeps with me every night).

More soon.

Rochester connections....

2007-07-18T07:25:00.000-07:00

Saturday, I spend the afternoon with my great aunt Maeluise, Happie’s younger sister, the middle child (Barbra is the baby). She is 84. We have a lovely time looking through old photo albums, taking a walk around her quiet neighborhood, and talking about my trip. There are incredible pictures of the three girls when they were little, in the 1920s. They are adorable. My grandmother is a gorgeous child, they all are. We flip through those. She tells me about the aunts, a few friends, some funny stories.

We get to a picture of an attractive blond girl. Nobody is blond is our family; we’re all dark-haired Jews. “We had an exchange student from Finland,” begins Mae. “She was very pretty, had quite the figure... Here she was, a senior in high school, and *we* were responsible for her.” I see where she’s going. Not easy to keep the shapely Scandinavian exchange student out of trouble. Sounds like maybe they didn’t. Funny. We turn the page to Mae’s daughters, glamorous high school portraits, fully airbrushed, big round hair.

We plan to talk more on Monday, record some of her stories, and take some pictures to Kinko’s to be scanned. Mae asks where the friends I am staying with live, and I tell her they live on Edgerton Street near Canterbury Road.

“Oh,” she says, “We had a house on Canterbury Road for a while in the 50s and 60s It was 211 Canterbury, near Vassar.” I made a mental note to remember 211, check it out the next day.

So the next day, I’m sitting on Kathy and Pete’s front porch on Edgerton Street, just like I loved to do with Carly in high school. This is where we’d sit to talk about our crazy obsessive crushes or why our friends were being weird or our parents annoying. Pete returns from taking Kathy to the airport, she’s off to North Carolina for work (she facilitates racism awareness workshops).

“What’s up?” says Pete.

“Oh, I was just thinking of taking a walk around the corner to a house my Aunt Mae used to have on Canterbury.”

“Cool. Where?”

“Canterbury and Vassar.” Its literally a block and a half from their house.

“Really? What was the family name?”

“Barkin.”

“No... I had a crush on a girl named Judi Barkin in high school.”

“Judi. Yep. She lives in Arcata.” I’ve seen her several times this year. Last time was Bob’s wedding. All I can do is laugh now. Because of course there’s a connection. Of course.

Pete goes inside, finds his high school yearbook, and there they are. All three of them. Monroe High, class of 1963.

So Pete and I stroll around the corner to find the house on Canterbury with the double lot, big garden. He tells me how Judi was cool and glamorous, he was just a dork, into nature and science. She wasn’t interested. Then he mentions there was an exchange student. “She was from Finland maybe? Heidi? Haily? She was very blond and pretty.... But I don’t know if she was at their house...”

“She was.”

Pete looks at me sideways, eyes squinty. “She was?”

“Yep. I saw a picture of her yesterday.”

He smiles. Oh my, I know what he’s going to say. I let him say it.

“She was the first girl I ever kissed.”

~ ~ ~

In the evening I go over to Mae’s for dinner. I’m late because I couldn’t find my car keys, and it’s clear she’s eagerly awaiting my arrival. Deep smile on her wrinkled face, somehow more open and vulnerable than my grandmother. Dark eyes, the color dulled with age but not the life in them. She’s wearing the same gray Sun Valley sweatshirt she had on yesterday and totally nondescript khaki slacks. I was there when she bought it last summer in Arcata, some place near Judi’s house. She’s made a lovely salad with olives, blue cheese, and homegrown cherry tomatoes, has out the good bread and some iced tea. She puts it all on trays and we carry it out to a picnic table in the back yard. The sun has not quite set and it’s a little bright where it shines through the trees. There’s a tiny pond near the picnic table with a few big orange koi in it. The sun is shining on one end of the pond, illuminating the fish.

I tell Mae all about Pete and Judi and Heli. She laughs and laughs. “What was his last name?” She asks.

“Debes, Peter Debes.”

“Oh, well sure. Debes. I worked with his father on a project at Kodak. Jack. We had lots of meetings together. Yes, I knew him well.”

This is almost comical now. It figures, of course we all know each other. We decide we should have dinner with Pete Monday night.

A little slice of home

2007-07-16T07:34:00.000-07:00

So last Thursday on my way from Ann Arbor back to Bay City (for a night), I had the wonderful fortune to stop in Okemos, Michigan (just east of Lansing) to see my friends Kate, Brandan, and Willa from Portland. They just so happened to be visiting Kate's brother and his family there. I don't know if I can convey how happy it made me to see them there in the middle of Michigan in the middle of my long trip. Like a little slice of home. And it was an honor to meet more of Kate's cool family, especially Willa's cousins Zeke and Olive (who I'd seen pictures of for years). A very lovely and talented bunch (check out the music here).

Willa (right) with her cousin, Olive, in fancy dress-up clothes.

Willa and Kate do an impressive stunt.

Brandan and me before dinner.

Willa makes a face at me at dinner.

Then my first stop in Rochester was at Kathy and Peter's house (parents of my friend Carly, now in NYC). I have known them all since Carly and I were in high school, and they are almost as much family as anyone. (They have a web site about their adventures in Italy here.)

Kathy on the back porch on Saturday morning.

Me with their good friend Wilson, very sweet guy.

Kathy's car.

Kathy and me, front porch.

Kathy and Pete.

Stay tuned for a pretty insane coincidence, and pictures of my great aunt Maeluise (Happie's sister).

Ann Arbor pictures.... from Rochester, NY.

2007-07-14T20:29:00.000-07:00

So I'm a little behind here, but here's what's up. I am now in Rochester, New York now. More on that soon. But to catch you up on my time in Michigan, here are some pictures.

The first batch is of my cousin Michael, his wife Susan, and their beautiful (and gregarious) twins, Hazel and John. I spent a lovely few days at their house, Monday to Thursday. Michael is the son of my uncle Peter in Seattle... And the author of several books. Susan has one, too, but I haven't read it yet. And very accomplished family all around. John and Hazel know how to make rain in a jar. Can you do that? I think I have commented on the brilliance of 5-year-olds in this space before.

I also got to visit some old friends in Ann Arbor, friends formerly of Missoula. Adrianne and Carla and their son Noah, who I used to take care of when he was two (he's now seven). And I got to meet their lovely and talented new baby, Sylvie! That was exciting. Truly, it was so good to catch up with them all.

Oh, and I did go to Zingerman's. And yes, it was insanely expensive (I bought an $8 loaf of bread), but the bread was good. Not that good though, honestly. It was fun though. Maybe I should have had a bagel or an $8 chocolate bar.

Ann Arbor tips?

2007-07-09T10:53:00.000-07:00

Anyone know what the best coffee shops on Ann Arbor are? For sitting and writing? Anything else I should do? Thanks!!

I am going to Ann Arbor in about 10 minutes for a few days to see my cousin Michael (Peter's son) and his wife and twins, and also my friend Adrianne and Carla (formerly of Missoula) and their son Noah and new baby girl, then back to Bay City for one night, where there better be a new baby by then. She's still not here.

Anyway, here are some more of my favorite pictures from Bay City (some taken by me, some by Jonah). Hard to go wrong with such cute kids.

Family in Bay City, Michigan

2007-07-07T22:11:00.000-07:00

Been in Bay City (15 mins north of Saginaw and an hour and half north of Ann Arbor) since Wednesday night. My cousin Jonah, his wife Jessica, and their daughter Makaylah are here for the summer at Jessica's parents house (they live the rest of the year in Cairo). Their second daughter is due any minute now. I do hope I get to meet her before I have to head east.

Yesterday Jonah and I went for a 20-mile bike ride to the Bay City State Recreation Area, a beautiful marshy place with lots of birds. And at least one beaver. And flat riding all the way! But bugs.... (I'll download the pictures from that soon.)

Jessica's good friend Penny is visiting from Virginia for a week with her 5-year-old daughter, Arwyn. Makaylah and Arwyn are having a ball.

Chicago

2007-07-04T23:23:00.000-07:00

Just arrived in Bay City, Michigan to see my cousin Jonah, his wife Jessica (who is going to have a baby any day now), and their daughter Makaylah. It was a pretty uneventful drive from Chicago. But I must say, driving in and out of Chicago was as annoying as I remembered it being. Traffic no matter what time it is. Could have been much worse though, it was alright, but probably added about 45 minutes on the way in yesterday and and on the way out today. And then I got to listen to lots of great patriotic songs on country radio. :)

But I did have a lovely time in Chicago with my friend Rachel, who took me to her favorite bar to meet her favorite adorable bartender. I wish I had some pictures of that.

Here are a few pictures of other things. :)

Before I left Iowa City, I figured out which dorm my mother had lived in her freshman year of college (1963-64) and found it, and gave myself a tour (since it was empty and the door was open). Nice to walk around and along the river behind it.

A sign I passed in western Illinois....

Rachel and her crazy kitty, Esme.

Rachel's cozy living room.

Rachel's other cat (actually her sister's), Lucy. I too an extra liking her to her because she looks like Emma Lou, same coloring (skinnier though).

A view of the Chicago skyline on the way of of town.

Stay tuned for pictures of Makaylah, who is soooo big (and maybe Jonah, but only if he does something cute).

Fairfield and Iowa City

2007-07-03T08:53:00.000-07:00

Spent three lovely days in Iowa, one in Fairfield and two in Iowa City. In Fairfield I got to see my cousin Margo and the Maharishi University where she lives, meditates, and is involved in working to bring transcendental meditation to kids. Margo's boyfriend David (who is the leader of the TM movement in Trinidad & Tobago) gave me a great tour of the campus. Here are some pictures including some of the big domes they meditate in. It was quite interesting to learn about how all the newer buildings all face east to capture the energy of the rising sun.

Also with Margo and David, went to an outdoor jazz festival in Iowa City on Sunday night. So much fun, and we got to see the Derek Trucks Band. SO good.

In Iowa City, I walked around the University campus a bit and found the dorm my mother lived in in 1963-64. Went the great Prairie Lights Bookstore and the Iowa Writer's Library, home of books by many cool people involved with the Iowa Writer's Workshop.

And I got to see Amma, the Indian spiritual teacher and humanitarian leader. Very interesting as it had been a while since I had been to darshan with a teacher like this. Beautiful live music and wonderful chai (almost as good as Lisa's...).

And now, onwards to Chicago to see Rachel.

And hey, I know you guys are out there reading. Lets see some more comments here! It's painless, I swear. And it makes me so happy to hear from you!